Active Landslides Shut Down Topanga Canyon, Parts Of Malibu As Heavy Rain, More Mudslides Are Forecast For Weekend

Tom Tapp
·3 min read

Four days after the last rain in Los Angeles, Topanga Canyon Boulevard remains closed from Grand View to PCH and two sections of PCH in Malibu are cordoned down to one lane due to continuing, active landslides.

“The City Public Works Department is constant communication with Caltrans on the closures due to landslides that have been impacting Malibu as Caltrans engineers continue to assess the safety and stability of the slopes and the roadway at the landslide sites in Topanga Canyon and on PCH,” reads a release from the city.

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Caltrans, for its part, says the Topanga closure will remain for an “unknown duration” due to a “tension crack high on [a] steep unstable hillside” compounding concerns over the actively sliding segment and expected rain this weekend.

It’s one of more than half-a-dozen roads that are either fully or partially closed in the greater Malibu area, including PCH at Porto Marina Way in the Palisades, PCH at the ongoing active landslide just south of Big Rock Drive, a large stretch of Cold Canyon Road closed due to a mud slide, ditto Mullholland from PCH to Little Sycamore Canyon Road and also near Brewster Road and a number of other closures in the Corral and Topanga Canyon areas.

While that may seem like inconvenience enough, the National Weather Service today warned it is anticipating mudslides, highway erosion, rockslides on canyon roads and high creek flows from a pari of storms set to hit the region Friday through Monday.

The latest forecast from NWS L.A. sees rainfall totals from 1.5-2.5 inches from the deluge and 3-5 inches in the foothills and mountains.

The NWS also added that there is a “low but present risk of severe storms with hail, strong wind [and a] brief tornado.” Ot estimated a “10-20% chance of thunderstorms.”

Steady rain is expected to begin on Friday night with showers continuing Saturday through Monday. Peak rates for most areas are forecast to be between .25-.50 inches per hour, with isolated bursts in some areas between .50 and .75 inches per hour.

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